My first week as a volunteer in Taurisano was all about my adaptation process to my new home, new work, new colleagues, and of course a new living environment in general. The first month was full of different events and conferences. Besides these, my daily routine was also really busy.
My daily routine starts by going to kindergarten in the morning. After working 2.5 hours in the kindergarten, I have a break for 3.5 hours. I use this time for cooking, eating, and cleaning. If I have extra time I also study some Italian. After this, I go to the “after-school” program to help disadvantaged kids with their homework for around 2 hours.
In addition to my daily routine, one of the first conferences I attended in Taurisano was “New Media Education” for kids. In this conference, the consequences of free “coding” lessons that are given in Fattoria Pugliese Diffusa are shared with the families of the children, and other attendees. On the left you can see a part from the work of the kids. I also contributed to the conference with my audio-visual skills.
Another activity during the first month was going to a local high-school to share my experiences as a Turkish volunteer in Taurisano. And also, to inform the local teenagers about the opportunities of Eurodesk.
“Let’s Learn to Grow Together” was a special project for me, because it happened on the same day as my birthday, 11th of February. The project was about educating and informing students in the local high-school in Taurisano. The emphasis was about the importance of education in the fight with the mafia. After the speech and presentation in the high school, there was another meeting in the municipality building of Taurisano with the mayor of Taurisano and other actors of the project. At the end of the conference, the birthday surprise of my host organization was a memorable surprise for me.
The biggest and last event of the first month was the “Carnival”! I also took part in the carnaval parade with my percussion instrument that I brought from Turkey, which is called “darbuka”.
Participating in a carnival in Taurisano with a traditional Turkish musical instrument was a lot of fun for me! On Saturday, we met and celebrated the carnival with the families of the kids in the kindergarten. Sunday was the actual day of the carnival, so there was a big parade in Taurisano.
First, we met at one of the squares in Taurisano, then walked through all of the Taurisano and stopped at “Piazza Marcato” for the big carnival show with the kids and families. It was a nice feeling to be part of all of these things during my first month.
